*You control the discipline problems. They do not control you.*
Dealing with discipline on your own terms
-The trick to controlling the time you spend on discipline is related to your ability to
Build positive relationships with your students
Set enforceable limits through enforceable statements
Share control (I know that I have trouble doing this!)
Implement disciplinary interventions that stop undesirable behaviors right off the bat, avoiding the need for consequences (See part 4 for examples)
Delay consequences-When thinking consequences must be applied instantly, the result can be more time consuming since:
The student is in an emotional, rather than a thinking, state
Adult is more likely stressed, having to take time away from present activites
Student gains a certain amount of power by controlling the adult's activities
*Meet with kids on your time, in your terms, with short brief interactions. Ask brief questions.
Give them the opportunity to come up with a consequence, but not allowing this to affect your schedule.
Telling a child 'not to worry about it', will obviously cause them to worry about it, causing them to continuously think of a consequence until one is found
Allow child to tell you his or her ideas on your own time
*Remember Parley Jacobs from chapter 1? The student waited for Parley, who did not allow his schedule to be affected by the child's problem.
*Discipline situations can become self-concept builders--for everyone involved.
Dealing with kids who feed off each other
-Way to solve this problem is to
Make a list of students involved-prioritize by most compliant at top and least compliant at bottom
Divide and conquer-arrange with fellow teachers ahead of time to provide a chair int he rear of their classrooms so that you can send the students, one at a time, to separate classrooms to sit and think out their behavior (one room per student). Your student is not expected to participate with the other class and goes in with the understanding that he/she may return when it will not result in any form of disruption. Example "That is not acceptable. Mr. _ has a place in his room for you until you can get yourself back together. You may return when you know that you can be here without causing a problem. Thank you."
Meet with the principal to describe your solutions and ask for support-Explain to the principal reasoning for moving students from your classroom, and say that if one of those children disrupts the temporary classroom, you would like him/her to come to principal for a 'cool-down' period. Tell principal not to feel a need to do anything other than allow the student to cool down and then return to your class when ready.
When the disruption starts, you have two options: (1) If you feel the leader of the group can be moved to another location, do that, then say to the other group members, "Do you guys think you can get yourselves back together or do I need to find another place for you?" (2) If you question the ease at which you can remove the leader, send students one by one to different specific classrooms, starting with the most compliant on the list moving towards the least compliant. Say to this student "Now, do you think you can behave here, or would you rather go to a different room until you can? Thank you." You may want to send another student (or aid) to make sure students have gone to their assigned locations
Implement 'one-sentence interventions' with troublemaking students ("I noticed that...", p. 21)
Heart to heart talks with these students after school, one at a time to plant seeds of thoughts in students' minds
Continue heart to hearts until better relationship is developed between student and teacher
These techniques usually solve problem, but if not, consider breaking up the group by reassigning one or more of these students.
-Students who have a strong sense of caring for their teachers usually become more cooperative when invited to do so. *When they state the standards themselves, students do better than when they simply listen to you lay down the law.
*You control the discipline problems. They do not control you.*
Dealing with discipline on your own terms
-The trick to controlling the time you spend on discipline is related to your ability to
*Meet with kids on your time, in your terms, with short brief interactions. Ask brief questions.
*Discipline situations can become self-concept builders--for everyone involved.
Dealing with kids who feed off each other
-Way to solve this problem is to
-Students who have a strong sense of caring for their teachers usually become more cooperative when invited to do so.
*When they state the standards themselves, students do better than when they simply listen to you lay down the law.